Change Your Image
jncherabie
Reviews
West Beyrouth (À l'abri les enfants) (1998)
A Different Side of War
'West Beirut', the debut film from Ziad Doueiri, tells the story of three friends,two boys and a girl, who live in the recently divided West side of Beirut. These characters are equipped with nothing but their bikes and their Super 8 camera. We follow them through their daily lives and watch as the world around them changes with the Lebanese Civil War. Fighter Planes flying over, visits to the bomb shelter, and armed men patrolling the streets all become parts of their daily lives. This movie shows the slow devastation of a once proud country and its people through the people's point of view, but most of all it shows that civil war is fought by the consensus of the people in the country, on the contrary, the civilians are victims trying to survive without ammunition. These people are sitting in their homes with their families, going out and buying groceries, hanging out with their friends, but are considered the enemy because of their religion. Slowly, war begins to change these once carefree characters and movie shifts to become a coming of age story with the backdrop of a broken city. These characters introduce you to the other side of war and depict the effects of war on their surroundings and everyone around them.
In America (2002)
The Definition of a Great Movie
When I first saw this movie, I was drawn in. It is one of those movies that just captures your attention without effort. It is so captivating that you forget that you are watching a movie and are drawn into the struggles of this family. All of the adults are amazing in these rolls and each suits their part perfectly but the true stars of this movie are the two girls, Sarah and Emma Bolger. Both of these girls are able to play their parts without flaws. They were put in this movie for the sole purpose of providing an innocent point of view to this rough world that they are surrounded with and that they do. As one of the actors said in an interview, children have the ability to find the good in all people. In this movie, they allow the audience to see that an apparently rough character, such as Mateo (who is initially described as "the man who screams"), is actually innocent and kind and they also help us to find truth behind many of the main characters. Roger Ebert once said that you know you were watching a great movie if you find something new about it each time you watch it, and each time you watch this movie, you find out more and more about each and everyone of these characters, especially the girls, and each time you fall a little more in love with it. This is a great movie and I'd recommend it to anyone who is willing to let their guard down and be drawn into this world that looks harsh at first but soon unveils itself to be a fantastical and caring world.